| Home / College Guide / Review: Lovely Runner |
| Posted on Sunday, June 09 @ 00:00:07 PDT |
THE SHORT VERDICT: A little show that looks light and fluffy, but is, in fact, so full of heart, and so solidly smart, that it outshines its similar-looking drama cousins, by a long mile.
Smartly written and tenderly directed on the one hand, and sincerely delivered by a cast that feels pitch-perfectly chosen for this story world on the other, Show has a lot to offer, despite its relatively modest pedigree.
Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon are wonderful in this, individually and together, and were the highlights of my watch; I found them both entertaining and endearing in all the right ways.
As a bonus, Show boasts a great OST that just amplifies every feel that Show serves up.
Very much recommend.
THE LONG VERDICT: I guess there’s no better way to start than to tell you guys upfront: I loved this little show. ??
I know your mileage may vary and all that, but I loved this show in a strongly visceral way; something that doesn’t happen to me all that often these days, after having watched dramas seriously for the last – gasp – 17 years.
That alone makes this show feel extra precious, to my eyes. ????
I feel like this show is the equivalent of a cupcake that looks pretty, and that you assume must taste like every other pretty little cupcake that you can buy from any regular bakery, but is, in fact, made by an expert baker, with a few extra special ingredients, such that every bite is richer and more flavorful than you’d originally expected.
You do your best to savor every bite – but when you get to the end, you still can’t stop thinking about how delicious and amazing that cupcake was, and then you wish you could travel back in time, just so that you could eat it, all over again.
Show’s not perfect, certainly, and you do need to make some lens adjustments here and there, but by and large, this hit all the right notes, and brought on some serious feels for me, that I do not take lightly.
I actually finished watching this show a whole week ago, but have dragged my feet on writing this review, because I just.. don’t want to say goodbye. ????
That’s how much I loved this one – and I hope this review will somehow put into words the ginormous mass of feels that is my heart right now. ????
OST ALBUM: FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE Here’s the OST album, in case you’d like to listen to it while you read the review.
Overall, I really, really enjoyed the music in this show, so much so that I find it hard to pick a favorite track; I liked most of the songs that much.
I love how the music was such a constant presence in our drama world, and I thought the music was very well applied, to amplify the watch experience.
I enjoyed a lot of feels while watching this show, and the music definitely had a part to play in that.
????????
In terms of specific tracks, I love Sudden Shower, You & I, Star, Like A Dream, May I Love You?, Super Ultra Man, A Day, and Spring Snow.
Here’s Sudden Shower on its own as well, in case you’d prefer to listen to that on repeat. Just right-click on the video and select “Loop.”
HOW I’M APPROACHING THIS REVIEW First I’ll talk about how to manage your expectations going into this one, and what viewing lens would be most helpful.
After that, I talk about what I liked and liked less, covering the more macro aspects of Show, before diving into selected characters and relationships.
Of course, I also spend some time talking about my thoughts on the penultimate episodes, as well as our finale episodes.
If you’re interested in my blow-by-blow reactions, &/or all the various Patreon members’ comments during the course of our watch, you might like to check out my episode notes on Patreon here .
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS / THE VIEWING LENS
Here are a few things that I think would be helpful to keep in mind, to maximize your enjoyment of your watch:
1. A manhwa lens is helpful
Show does indicate this right up front, with its manhwa opening credits, but I thought I’d mention it anyway; I find that a manhwa lens is very useful, sometimes, with this show.
Sometimes our characters do behave in exaggerated, OTT sort of ways, and a manhwa lens just helps any and all OTT-silly scenes, which would make very little sense in a world that’s actually rooted in reality, go down a lot better.
2. It’s not just about idol-fangirl stuff
The trailers set this up as being an idol-fangirl sort of story, and with good reason, because we wouldn’t want the trailers to give away too much of the story (I’m looking at you, A Time Called You ????), but I think it’s important to let you know upfront, that that isn’t all there is to it.
So if you’re thinking, Nah, I’m not into idol-fangirl stuff, I hope you’ll reconsider giving this show a chance, because it works out to be so much more than that. ????
3. This isn’t supposed to be a noona romance sort of deal
What I mean is, when Sol (Kim Hye Yoon) goes back in time and starts interacting with Sun Jae (Byeon Woo Seok) in high school (not a spoiler because it’s part of the premise and has been widely advertised in Show’s trailer), it’s best not to take their inner ages into account; ie, don’t think of it as a 30-year-old woman interacting with a 19-year-old boy.
In this story world, it’s best to just think of Sol being Sol, and Sun Jae being Sun Jae, whatever age they happen to be, on our screens, ie, their essence doesn’t change just because their ages change.
4. Some suspension of disbelief is required
This is par for the course, since this is a fantasy drama, after all, and with manhwa tendencies, no less, it’s probably not a surprise that there is some suspension of disbelief required, at times.
5. Don’t over-analyze stuff
What I mean is, Show is smartly written, and a lot of stuff actually does add up, so it does stand up to a good amount of scrutiny.
However, it isn’t very plain in explaining some details, and I think getting stuck on those details could mar the watch experience for you.
..Which is why I’m saying it’s best not to over-analyze stuff, during your watch. ????
[SPOILER ALERT]
For example, in Sol’s final time slip, Show is not specific about whether she lands right at that moment when we see her turn away from going home, in order to avoid Sun Jae.
Questioning whether she really did land at that specific moment, and how she was able to land at that specific moment, would kinda ruin the fun, I think.
(Personally, I’d assumed that she hadn’t landed at that specific moment, but earlier than that, and that Show had simply chosen to zoom in on this particular defining moment and how she’d behaved at this time, because it would make a difference to her relationship with Sun Jae.
)
[END SPOILER]
STUFF I LIKED Show’s vibe
I’m sure this flavor of drama isn’t for everyone, but it really is totally my jam, and I was a happy camper, right from episode 1.
At first, to my eyes, this show felt like a happy mash-up of elements from a bunch of different shows, with Twinkling Watermelon , Extraordinary You , j-dorama Hana Kimi , and c-drama A Love So Beautiful being the first ones to come to mind.
Here are the similarities that first caught my attention, when I started my watch.
[BROAD FOUNDATIONAL SPOILERS]
This show gave me Twinkling Watermelon vibes, because of the time slip element, where our female lead Sol travels back to the past, and gets a chance to save her idol, Sun Jae, from a Very Bad Event.
The slight comic book type touches, like when Sol tries to tell Sun Jae the truth, but everything in the world around her freezes, reminds me of Extraordinary You , where our characters were also similarly hampered by the rules of their comic book world.
The way Sol throws herself into Mission Save Sun Jae, kinda-sorta reminds me of the mission that the female lead undertook, in Hana Kimi , which Korea also remade ( To The Beautiful You) , but which I really didn’t like as much as the 2007 original.
Granted, the mission that the female lead undertakes in Hana Kimi isn’t actually to save the male lead’s life, but he is still her idol, and she is still trying to save him, in a manner of speaking.
And then, the whole twist at the end of episode 2, where we finally see things from Sun Jae’s perspective, feels so very much like the extended epilogue of A Love So Beautiful , where many different scenes are finally shown from the male lead’s perspective.
[END BROAD FOUNDATIONAL SPOILERS]
Ultimately, however, as Show settled, it was Shining For One Thing and Someday Or One Day that really struck me as being of a similar vibe, to Lovely Runner.
Largely, it’s because of the way all three of these shows have the female lead time traveling, and trying to stop a Very Bad Event, and also, in how all three of these shows manage to tell their story with a strong emotional hook, even while keeping a lot of the narrative tight yet light.
The great thing is, although this show reminds me so much of Shining For One Thing, and Someday Or One Day, the narrative pieces aren’t identical, and this show is definitely its own thing.
This means that I get to feel those poignant feels that I loved in Shining For One Thing and Someday Or One Day, but in a fresh new way.
That’s pretty darn fantastic. ????
General handling and execution
Overall, I got the feeling that this show was created with a lot of care, affection and tenderness, both in the writing and in the directing.
Feeling that affection of Show’s creators through my screen made me also grow quickly affectionate of this show and its characters. ????
In this spoiler section, I’ve got a few personal highlights, where I felt Show’s execution was nicely done.
I will talk more about the writing, in the next section.
[SPOILER ALERT]
E1-2. I like how Show is creating echoes of other scenes, from timeline to timeline.
On the one hand, I feel that this emphasizes certain character tendencies and the fate-like quality of the moments in question (like Sun Jae repeatedly sheltering her with an umbrella, and asking her why she’s crying).
And on the other hand, I also feel like this gives us clues as to who was significant in what event, in each timeline. Like how Sun Jae is the one to save Sol in this do-over timeline, from an oncoming car; it seems to echo the accident that had paralyzed her, since we see what looks like a flashback of someone pulling her away, as well.
E5-6. Show is mashing up what feels like pretty contradicting tones, and I’m effectively feeling a weird blend of feelings that’s altogether keeping me on the edge of my seat.
The puppy love stuff is beyond cute, and I’m growing an enormous soft spot for Sun Jae, how is turning out to be a pure-hearted sweet cinnamon roll, so all the cozy cute feels envelop me, every time we get a bit of Sun Jae grappling with his feelings for Sol.
At the same time, we’ve got that undercurrent which we’ve had for a while, where we wonder whether Sol will succeed in changing Sun Jae’s future, as well as her own.
This pair of episodes, Show layers another layer on top of that, and it’s darker than I’d first imagined, because I’d thought that Sol had become paralyzed as the result of an accident, in our original timeline.
But in this pair of episodes, it becomes increasingly clear that Sol had been attacked, and her attacker had abducted her, wanting to kill her, and she’d somehow survived, but lost the use of her legs.
Oof. That’s dark.
It’s little wonder that Sol had blocked out the memory, along with other memories that formed the context around this terrible, horrific, defining event in her life.
It’s also little wonder that she’d been so deeply, psychologically affected, that she’d wanted to die. Poor, poor Sol. ????
The thing is, Show doesn’t reveal all of this to us in a one-shot, rip-off-the-bandaid sort of style; instead, it drops little hints here and there – like with that jangling of the keys at the bridge, where Sol had gone to look for her lost phone, which then trigger fragments of memories coming to Sol’s mind.
As the fragments come together to form a more solid picture, the undercurrent of foreboding grows stronger, even as our puppy love cute continues to serve up the warm fuzzy feels, and that odd combination of feels is quite.. gripping, I have to say.
This made me feel extra, extra protective of our puppy leads, and I wanted nothing bad to happen to them, ever. ????
E7-8. Show’s got my feelings allll over the place this pair of episodes, with plot developments that literally come from opposing ends of the spectrum.
We get legitimately scary and stressful bits, as well as so-cute-I-could-burst stretches, and I’m just over here, trying to keep up with all the feels, and trying to roll with the myriad of punches, as they come. ????
I thought this was really well done, honestly, coz it’s hard to mesh these very disparate tones into one story world and have it all still feel organic.
[END SPOILER] The writing
By and large, I thought the writing in this show was smart and tender, and I really liked that a lot.
That said, I have to confess that there were times when I found the writing a little shaky, so much so that I would question what writer-nim was thinking, to have written a particular section that way.
HOWEVER.
Notice that I’ve still got the writing in the “Stuff I Liked” section, instead of my more neutral “Stuff that was ok” section?
Even though there were moments when I felt the writing leaned a little shaky, it wasn’t enough to undo the good feelings I had towards the writing in general. That’s saying quite a lot, isn’t it? ????
Here are some of my personal highlights that have to do with the writing, followed by some of the lowlights, so that you know what I mean, when I say that, on occasion, I found the writing a little shaky.
[SPOILER ALERT]
When I thought it was great
E3-4. The scene of Sol finding herself back in 2023 had me gasping out loud, because I’d categorized this show in my mind as something fairly similar to Twinkling Watermelon, and therefore, I hadn’t expected at all, that Sol might actually be making more than one trip between 2008 and 2023. ????
Happily, this works in Show’s favor, because that felt like a very neat surprise, and yet, that twist respects all the rules that we’ve learned thus far, about our story world.
Very nice.
And I’m amused and also somewhat impressed, that Show thinks to include the fact that Younger Sol is freaked out at the gaps in her memory, after coming back to her own body.
It adds a nice layer of complexity to our proceedings, I feel, because this way, Sol feels the need to respect her younger self, on her next time slip, and this nicely explains why she would give Kim Tae Sung the time of day, for example.
Additionally, it throws an organic spanner into the works, in terms of the burgeoning connection between Sun Jae and Sol, because Younger Sol has effectively pushed Sun Jae away, while embracing Tae Sung (Song Geon Hee) as her boyfriend, while Older Sol had been away, in 2023.
E3-4. One of my favorite things that Show is doing so far, is offering us glimpses of how things look from Sun Jae’s perspective.
I’ve always said that context is everything, and I just freaking love how Show is so deft at changing how everything looks to us, by allowing us to see scenes that we’ve already witnessed, one more time, but through Sun Jae’s eyes.
At this point, Show’s done this several times now, in four episodes, and I still love it as much, each time.
It feels like Show is turning my entire story world on its head, every time it does this, and I love it. ????
At the beginning of episode 4, we go back to the scene where Sun Jae had stopped for Sol, when she’d been stuck on the bridge thanks to her wheelchair running out of power.
On first viewing, I’d seen this as just him being a thoughtful idol who cares about his fans, but it’s only now, when we revisit the scene from his perspective, that he’d clearly remembered her, and had stopped because he’d recognized her.
Oof. What a punch to the gut, for him and for me, when he realizes that Sol still doesn’t remember him.
This scene sure hits differently, now that we know that Sun Jae had known who Sol was, all along, not just on the bridge, but even back when she’d answered the phone while in hospital after her accident.
On first viewing, I’d thought that his words were more like random words of kindness and encouragement, spoken to a stranger, but now, with 20/20 hindsight, it just hits differently, to realize that he’d known, acutely, where all her harsh words and angry tears were coming from.
His words hadn’t been random words of kindness to a stranger; his words had been his earnest personal plea to Sol, the girl whom he loved, to please find a reason to live another day.
AUGH. My heart. ????
When I thought it wasn’t so great
E3-4. There are some beats that feel a touch forced, like that beat in episode 4, when Sol is asking Sun Jae’s dad (Kim Won Hae) if she can leave that bag of books in Sun Jae’s room.
After telling her no, Dad conveniently gets a stomachache in response to her fake stomachache, and hurries into the house, conveniently leaving the gate and the house door ajar for her – so that she’d be able to sneak in on her own.
This felt like the opposite of good writing and direction, to me, and I don’t love it, when Show does this.
E11-12. The climactic, utterly moving end of episode 10, is really hard to top, and it almost feels like a guarantee, that after a high like that, we’d inevitably experience a bit of a slump, because.. what goes up, must come down, or something like that? ????
At the same time, I did feel, for the first time, that I was watching a far bit of filler, in between the actual plot points that are driving our story forward.
I feel like the filler fell into two broad categories: cuteness between our OTP, as well as among the various other young people in our story world, and broad, sometimes slapsticky humor.
I am absolutely on board with The Cute, certainly, but I didn’t enjoy the funny bits so much.
[END SPOILER]
The handling of the time travel element
Overall, I really liked how Show handled its time travel element.
Writer-nim is so deft at managing the various related narrative pieces, that I regularly felt very impressed, during my watch.
For the record, I didn’t spend time studying the various pieces, because, like I mentioned earlier, I felt that over-analyzing this one would just mar the experience for me.
Instead, I allowed Show to carry me through, floating mainly on feels, while my brain dutifully digested the various time travel pieces as they were served up.
I found that with this approach, I didn’t ever get confused about the various timelines or the various pieces that echo one another across timelines; it just all made sense to me.
Certainly, I’m not discounting the possibility that if you took a much more critical look at the time travel in this show, you might find something that doesn’t add up, but I didn’t feel like doing that.
In this next spoiler section, I highlight some of my favorite time travel-related bits, like the circular logic that is at play, in this story world.
Note that these include my internal questions while watching, in response to the time travel tidbits, and my hypotheses may not have been true to how things played out in the end.
[SPOILER ALERT]
E1-2. I like that little detail that we get, at the end of episode 2, that in the present, even though Sun Jae’s suicide hasn’t been prevented (yet!), a connection between him and Sol has been formed – evidenced by the appearance of that little photo of them, on the table.
E3-4. One of the things I find myself very interested in, is Sol figuring out how the rules of her time travel work.
For example, I’d been on tenterhooks, watching Sun Jae compete in that swimming meet, because in our original timeline, that is how he’d wrecked his shoulder.
I was SO RELIEVED that Sun Jae completes the competition without pain in his shoulder, while at the same time being ever-ready to wince, just in case his shoulder started hurting in the minutes after his win.
Just with this, I feel like Show’s keeping me on my toes.
And of course, it’s quite worrying to see that even though Sun Jae doesn’t wreck his shoulder during the competition, his shoulder injury does flare up in a big way soon enough, thus forcing his retirement as a competitive swimmer, just like in the original timeline.
And of course, this also begs the question about Sol’s accident.
We see that the very same accident that had caused her to lose the use of her legs, doesn’t have the same effect in this timeline, but does that mean it’s ok for us to breathe a sigh of relief, and believe that Sol’s legs are going to be fine henceforth?
Or, is that cruel fate going to happen to her anyway – just in a different way, and at a different time?
This way of thinking is rather stressful, honestly, and I would like Show to shed some light on this, sooner than later.
But, in the meantime, this does add a layer of tension to the watch experience, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
Circular logic
E3-4. That beat where Sol takes out her mp3 player and lets him listen to the song that he’d used to sing to his fans, is the moment when it starts to dawn on me that there might be a lot of circular logic at play in our story world.
Like, isn’t it very possible that the whole reason this song was special to Sun Jae in the first place, is because it had been Sol who had played it for him, at this moment in his life when he’d needed it most?
And likewise, Show is also indicating to us, this set of episodes, that the whole reason Sun Jae even likes those sweets, is because it had been Sol who had first handed him those very same sweets, the first time they’d interacted, when she’d mistaken him for a delivery ahjussi.
And how about that thing where Sol tells Sun Jae the words that he’d once said to her, during that phone call – to live, because it’s a nice day.
Mightn’t this have been the first time Sun Jae had heard those words, and perhaps that’s why he’d said them to Sol, when he’d had her on the phone, during that fateful call from the radio station? ????
For the record, this kind of mind-bendy circular logic is my jam, so I’m lapping this up with relish.
E9-10. I really like this idea of having Sun Jae come to know that Sol’s from the future; it opens up narrative possibilities that I’d ignored, because I’d assumed that Sol wouldn’t be able to tell him this, coz it would cause a time freeze.
However, we see in episode 10, that the rules of the time freeze don’t actually apply to Sol revealing that she’s a time traveler. The time freeze only kicks in when she says something specific about the future.
Ahhh. This was a loophole that I hadn’t expected!
[END SPOILER]
The nod to the fangirl experience
Even though I don’t consider myself a very well-versed nor committed fangirl, I do feel like I’ve had enough exposure to the fangirl life, that I can say Show does a solid job of reflecting what the fangirl experience is like, for the dedicated fan.
[SPOILER ALERT]
E1-2. I’ve come across enough personal stories of someone feeling like their idol literally saved their life, that I could feel Sol’s experience resonate with me, in a “gosh-that-could-have-happened” sort of way.
Like, yes, I can believe that a kind word spoken in season, can literally save someone’s life, and therefore, I can believe that Sun Jae’s words to Sol, during that fateful phone call on the radio show, literally saved her from taking her own life.
Afterwards, I can totally see why Sol would become such a dedicated Sun Jae fangirl.
He’d been the to save her, and so it makes sense that she would thereafter make him a big part of her reason for living.
Instead, Show gives Sol a chance to give back to Sun Jae, in a manner of speaking, by allowing her the opportunity to save him, in return.
[END SPOILER]
When Show is thought-provoking
Occasionally, I would unexpectedly find certain tidbits in our story quite thought-provoking.
I’m not sure if Show actually intended to be thought-provoking, but I count it a bonus that it sometimes gave me something to reflect on.
Here’s a couple of examples.
[SPOILER ALERT]
E3-4. This pair of episodes, Sol realizes that she is only in this timeline for a season, and not for good, and therefore, can’t make really huge decisions for her younger self.
..which, on a tangent, I thought was an interesting angle for Show to include, honestly.
Not only is it fun and relatable to see Older Sol react with such mortification to the things that Younger Sol does and says, and also, in response to Younger Sol’s overall taste in men, it also feels pretty thought-provoking.
It makes me think about what things I’d like to go back and change in my life, if Present Me could go back and take the place of my younger self, for a while.
And, it also makes me think about how I’ve changed, over the years – and how we don’t really tend to see that potential for change, in the moment.
Younger Sol certainly couldn’t have imagined her older self ever thinking that Kim Tae Sung, the boy of her current dreams, as an annoying punk. ????
It makes me wonder how I’ll look back on Present Me and my choices now, as well.
E5-6. I don’t hold it against Sol, for not realizing sooner, that she is special to Sun Jae, despite the many signs and indications.
Honestly, I find it pretty thought-provoking, that because of where our attention and focus is, we can miss potentially huge, important things in our lives.
For Sol, because her attention had been on Kim Tae Sung in her original timeline, she hadn’t even noticed that her neighbor had been Sun Jae, THE Sun Jae who eventually became the recipient of all her fangirl devotion.
Of course, there’s also that other thing where, here in this timeline, Sol is so focused on trying to save Sun Jae from his eventual death, that all the signs that he likes her, just slide right off her.
It really makes me wonder what I might have missed, while living my life, because my eyes had been focused elsewhere.
????
E5-6. On a tangent, I’d just like to say that when I listen to Sol’s voiceover – where she talks about all the moments that she’d missed in the past, were shining somewhere, sending her signals all this time, and that’s why she’s here now – I feel like I’m hearing the explanation of the title of c-drama “ Shining For One Thing ,” whose English title never did make much sense to me.
Funny how that is, eh? Did any of you who watched Shining For One Thing feel the same way? ????
[END SPOILER]
Eclipse as a band
I enjoyed our fictional band, and I love that they really are making music together, for real, in our show.
On that note, props to Byeon Woo Seok for singing for real, because it would have been perfectly acceptable for him to just lip-sync, while someone else provided the vocals. For the record, I am impressed; I think he sounds great. ????
I am both tickled and impressed that the Eclipse tracks are ranking pretty well on music charts, and that just makes me love even more, how this show made their fictional band so real.
It indirectly also makes our characters feel even more real, in a way? Like Sun Jae, Sol and the rest of the gang are real people, almost.
????
STUFF THAT WAS OK Show’s sense of humor
I have to admit that Show’s sense of humor was a mixed bag, for me.
Sometimes, I found myself laughing out loud because Show had tickled my funny bone in such an unexpected sort of way, and then sometimes, I found myself wincing because Show’s idea of Funny was so not my idea of Funny.
Regardless of Show’s not-so-successful funny (at least in my opinion), it sure knows how to hit home on the emotional front, and that more than made up for everything.
Here are some of my personal highlights and lowlights, in terms of Show’s efforts towards Funny.
[SPOILER ALERT]
When it worked for me
E1-2. It’s very amusing to me – and yet it makes total sense – that Sol would assume that she’s in a dream, and do her best to hug Sun Jae in her dream, and then lament (and I paraphrase), “Why can’t I hug him, since it’s my dream after all???”
Tee hee hee.
And then, to have her thoughts turn to the idea that she’s dead, and this is the afterlife, is also quite funny.
It’s sad yet hilarious, how she concludes that if she’s seeing Sun Jae in front of her, it must mean that she’s dead (because Sun Jae’s dead), and then starts bawling, right in front of a very confused and perplexed Sun Jae.
Gosh, he must think that Sol is bonkers, yes? ????
E1-2. I am highly amused by how Sol is not at all into the boy whom she’d actually had a crush on, back in high school, Kim Tae Sung.
It’s hilarious to me, that she finds out that she’d just confessed her affection for him the day before, but now, with her 30-year-old eyes, she’s all like, “Ew. What a punk. I liked him ???” ????
I feel like this will be a great source of hilarity as we go, since Kim Tae Sung seems to be quite taken with Sol and her love letter, while Sol is more than over him, at this point – just 24 hours after confessing. ????
E1-2. Another source of hilarity, for me, is how Sol keeps trying to keep Sun Jae from competing in that meet, which she knows will ruin his shoulder, and even resorts to impersonating a fortune-telling nun, telling him that there’s a virgin ghost hanging onto him, and he mustn’t go near water.
Hahaha. It’s so silly, but it’s also so funny. ????
And it is so perfect, that she’s able to prove her authenticity with little nuggets of truth about him – information that she has at her fingertips, because she is a superfan, after all. ????
E3-4. I didn’t love the toilet humor employed in this arc, but I did laugh out loud, at the way Sol screams out random k-ent facts – Rain and Kim Tae Hee get marriedddd!! – in order to freeze time, so that she’d be able to hide safely from Sun Jae’s dad.
Pwahaha!! Way to go, Sol, for using her knowledge of the rules of this world, to her advantage! ????????
E7-8. I did get a kick out of the synopsis of the movie that Sol’s company is trying to cast Sun Jae in, because it’s all such a mash-up of elements that we’ve seen in Dramaland:
Mermaid: Legend of the Blue Sea
North Korean general: Crash Landing on You
Zombie virus epidemic: Happiness
North Korean general being an alien: My Love from the Stars
I was quite amused by this mashup, I hafta say. ????
E9-10. I did get a genuine chuckle out of the running gag, of Sol continually running into that sunbae, and him swallowing his mouthful of mouthwash, each time. It’s so silly, but I found it funny. ????
I also giggled (but with some secondhand embarrassment) at the scene of Sol trying to slow-crawl her way out of that drinking session at the MT, while pretending to be passed out drunk.
It’s quite hilarious to me, because anyone could look over and suddenly realize that she’s on the opposite end of the room, all of a sudden. ????
E9-10. I felt bad for Sol getting called upon to do that punishment dance in front of Sun Jae’s faculty, but I also got a big kick out of Sol losing her patience and giving that sunbae a big ol’ dressing down, for being irresponsible and forcing his juniors to drink.
The way she rapid-fires her scolding is so convincing, that she even has him meekly answering, “Yes,” when she orders him to wrap things up and get everyone to bed.
Hahaha. That was pretty great, honestly. ???? Poor sunbae had no idea what hit him. ????
When it didn’t work for me
E3-4. One of the things I don’t care for too much, is Show’s occasional dip into toilet humor.
I guess I can’t blame Show, since toilet humor has proven itself to be a longtime pillar in k-humor; I just don’t care for it personally, and I found myself wincing a bit, each time Show decided to give us some toilet humor, just for funsies.
E7-8. I was less amused with the whole thing where Sol knocks Sun Jae into the fountain, and then being billed for the entire outfit down to his underwear, coz that lands as a little slapsticky to my eyes, but I have enough goodwill for this show, to just shrug and move right along – because I knew that soon enough, Sol would be reunited with Sun Jae once more.
E11-12. We get a running gag, where Dad ends up stuck in the bathroom for hours on end, and it’s perplexing to me, that Show decides that punishing Dad in every manner imaginable – from stinging his eyes with shampoo, to having to rinse his hair in the toilet, to losing his voice, to banging up his shoulder – is actually funny.
????
And that’s not yet counting the gag in episode 11, where Dad gets frightened out of his wits, thinking that Sun Jae was some kind of ghost. ????
I know Kim Won Hae’s been game to be the butt of jokes in many of his roles, but I still felt sorry for Dad, and all this suffering felt quite unnecessary to me.
It feels like Show still had room in the episodes for some filler, and, in casting about for some suitable material, decided that Dad might as well suffer for a bit, just for funsies.
I dunno; maybe lots of other people found this arc funny, but I mostly didn’t.
That said, I did chuckle a little when Sol’s mom finally comes to the rescue, and knocks the door down in one fell swoop.
Like, first, yay for superhero-esque moment for Mom, and second, yay for Dad getting rescued, finally. And perhaps third, yay for a role reversal in the damsel in distress trope?
[END SPOILER]
The thing with Kim Young Soo [SPOILERS]
About midway through our story, Show makes it clear that there’s a serial killer in the thick of our narrative, and, as far as I can tell, this has been a sore point with a lot of viewers.
Which is why I thought I’d talk about it a little bit here, and share why, even though I, too, dislike the serial killer mushed with romance sort of thing that Dramaland’s been doing for some time, I think it’s a solid narrative choice, in this story specifically.
I know, what a radical thing to say, about the serial killer arc! But, hear me out. ????
Having seen other time slip dramas where our main characters need to fight against a Fate That Cannot Be Changed, a serial killer actually feels more manageable.
Like, if we can just swing it such that Psycho gets put away for good, then our characters can be safe and happy.
[MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SOMEDAY OR ONE DAY & SHINING FOR ONE THING]
In comparison, our characters in Someday Or One Day had to do a full reset, erasing the loop itself, along with everyone’s memories alongside, in order to overcome the terrible fate that kept befalling our characters.
And in Shining For One Thing , the bad thing that kept befalling our male lead, seems unpreventable, as if it’s fated to happen, no matter what our female lead did.
Honestly, in comparison, a serial killer seems a much, MUCH more solvable problem than an unchangeable fate, so in this case, I’m in-principle ok with the idea of Show making a serial killer the main narrative obstacle.
[END SPOILERS FOR SOMEDAY OR ONE DAY & SHINING FOR ONE THING]
At the same time, I’ve heard viewers saying that they would have preferred if Show had focused on idol suicide as an issue, instead of this serial killer thing.
To which I say, that’s great in concept, but I don’t think it would work for this show.
After watching Doctor Slump (review here !), I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not very useful to tackle the topic of depression with a light, even comic sort of touch.
I feel that to be effective, a show about depression needs to be more serious, like Daily Dose of Sunshine (review here !).
And so, if Lovely Runner were to choose to focus on idol suicide, it would have to be a very different show – OR, it would be an ineffective show about depression.
Neither of which is very appealing to me, honestly.
Plus, I would much rather have Sun Jae be a happy character, than a depressed one, y’know?
Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now. ????
CHARACTERS / RELATIONSHIPS Byeon Woo Seok as Sun Jae
Consider me very pleasantly shocked at how much I enjoyed Byeon Woo Seok as Sun Jae.
I feel like there are multiple parts to this.
First, there’s how Sun Jae is written, as a character. He’s just a sweet, pure-hearted, lovely human being, who happens to be super dorky when it comes to the person that he likes, and it’s just adorable.
Second, there’s how Byeon Woo Seok delivers him.
Credit to Byeon Woo Seok, who clearly worked very hard preparing for the role, not only in terms of immersing himself in the character, but also, on the singing and swimming fronts.
This was a demanding role on multiple fronts, and I thought he did very well.
At the same time, I do think we need to give credit to PD-nim, because we can see from the behind-the-scenes footage, that PD-nim gave a lot of detailed instructions to his actors, including Byeon Woo Seok of course, in order to bring out the exact nuances that he desired to capture, in his characters.
Overall, I just luffed Sun Jae, a whole lot; he was like a precious cinnamon roll that just deserved to be protected at all costs. ????
I will talk a lot more about Sun Jae in the OTP section later, but first, here are a few Sun Jae highlights from my watch.
[SPOILER ALERT]
E3-4. Honestly, in just these first four episodes, Show has really succeeded in making me care about Sun Jae.
When he hears that he has to give up on ever swimming competitively again, he’s so gutted by it, and the thing that makes it hit harder, is that this swimming dream seems deeply rooted in his parents’ hope and expectations for him.
It feels like there’s a deep burden on him, to make the swimming dream a reality, because it had been his mother’s wish for him, and it is also thereby his father’s greatest wish for him – in honor of his mother.
I felt terrible for Sun Jae, that he feels unable to tell Dad about his injury, and instead tries to pass it off as him losing interest in and desire to pursue the sport.
I’m so relieved that Dad doesn’t take long to find out the truth, and talks to Sun Jae about it, and urges him to get the surgery, and get better.
The way Sun Jae wipes away his tears, sitting at that table in front of his dad, feels so childlike; it really makes me want to reach into my screen and give him a hug, and tell him that everything’s going to be ok. ????
I’m honestly kind of glad that Sun Jae sees Sol crying at the hospital, after his surgery.
Although he doesn’t talk to her then, I feel that this sight, of her crying so hard, on his account, demonstrates better than any words that she could say, how much she is on his side, and how much she cares.
And, in this situation, where I’m sure Sun Jae feels very much alone, I’m glad that he gets this indirect assurance, that there’s someone so deeply in his corner. ????
E5-6. It was honestly pretty great to see Sun Jae come into his element, when the band had asked him to sing with them, at the last minute.
It might not be super realistic that he’s so uncertain at first, but then becomes sooo confident and charismatic, within the space of a single song, but I am happily willing to suspend disbelief, and just roll with the idea that Sun Jae is a born natural, and just never knew it.
I mean, he looks happy onstage, honestly, and I just really like that. ????????
[END SPOILER]
Kim Hye Yoon as Sol
This is hands-down my favorite role of Kim Hye Yoon’s that I’ve seen, to date, and I’m so, SO glad that she was cast as Sol.
I mean, she’s perfectly suited for the role, both in terms of age and appearance, since this means that she’s able to play both the high school and adult version of Sol with equal believability.
To my eyes, Kim Hye Yoon goes all-in for the role of Sol, and I love how she throws herself into the various arcs without vanity, even when Sol is required to do something silly or embarrassing for the camera.
My most favorite thing about Kim Hye Yoon’s delivery of Sol, is that she infuses Sol with an emotional authenticity that really made me feel what Sol was feeling, and care about what would happen to her.
Kim Hye Yoon delivers that emotional authenticity with detail and nuance, and I’m just really impressed that you can pick up any scene of Sol’s, and find emotional layers at play.
Really well done. ????
As with Sun Jae, I will talk more about Sol in the OTP section, but for now, here are some Sol-specific highlights from my watch.
[SPOILER ALERT]
E1-2.
Kim Hye Yoon is tiny and petite and I think that really helps her land believably as a high-schooler in the past timeline, as well as a young woman, in the future timeline.
Also, she does joyous, smitten fangirl very well, and I could totally believe that she was very much a Sun Jae fangirl, in the future timeline.
E1-2. Aside from Sol’s fixation on saving Sun Jae, one of the things that I find very heartwarming, is the way Sol treasures this do-over, because it gives her more time with her mother and grandmother.
In particular, Sol’s scenes with Gran feel extra poignant, because in the timeline that she came from, Gran had been suffering from Alzheimer’s, and couldn’t remember her, pretty much. ????
And of course, there’s also the thing where Sol treasures her ability to walk, which is something that she’d taken for granted, until she’d lost it.
E7-8. When Sol escapes without injury in the second timeline, I was SO relieved, and then, when she returns to 2023 and finds that she has full use of her legs, I was SO happy for her, seriously. ????
E7-8. The way Sol is so happy to be able to walk; the way she’s so relieved to find out, via the internet, that Sun Jae is alive; the way she runs to see him on the bridge, in case she shows up too; the way she takes so much joy in seeing Gran again; the way she’s so thrilled that she has a car; the way she’s so pleased that she has a job.
All her happiness in these moments felt so precious to me, because it feels that she’s earned this, with so much difficulty and hardship.
She endured that horrific abduction a second time, and barely survived, in order to be able to enjoy these everyday happinesses, and I am so happy for her, truly. ????
I was so happy for Sol, that I was more than happy to just roll with the bits of OTT humor that Show serves up, particularly in the lead-up to her reconnecting with Sun Jae again, in this new timeline.
[END SPOILER]
Sun Jae and Sol
To me, Sun Jae and Sol were, together, the heart and soul of this drama. I loved them both so much. ????
Not only are they cuteness personified when they’re together, their love for each other is very touching.
I found myself continually moved by how deeply they loved each other; that they would keep choosing to protect the other person, regardless of the cost to themselves. ????
Kudos to Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon; together, they made Sun Jae and Sol come alive as a couple, so much so that they completely captured my heart and my imagination, and I will remember this OTP fondly, for a long, long time. ??????
[SPOILER ALERT]
E1-2. I love-love-LOVE the reveal that we get at the end of episode 2, that Sun Jae had fallen first, and fallen hard.
I love how that switch in context puts a different spin on all the different scenes that we see, in this highlight reel.
The truth behind the renting of the videotape of Basic Instinct was very funny, but also, how dorky-sweet is it, that he basically stood in that awkward position and let Sol sleep on his arm, because he couldn’t bear to wake her? ????
E3-4. It is indeed very cute to see that our male lead is so smitten with our female lead, this early in the story, because that’s not often the case, particularly when there are 16 episodes of story to fill.
At the same time, I kinda had a feeling, just from the fact that Sun Jae’s having heart-eyes for Sol this early in our story, while Sol, as we know, already has heart-eyes for him, that things wouldn’t go so smoothly, with Sun Jae’s Mission Confession.
Still, isn’t Sun Jae just the most adorkable young man, trying his darndest to find a way to tell Sol that he likes her? ????
As for Sol, I personally think that she likes him a lot, but also sees him in as an unreachable star; someone whom she can only love and admire from afar.
I honestly don’t think it’s occurred to her, that Sun Jae might like her, or that she could actually like him, too.
At this point in time, I don’t get the feeling that Sol has anything else in mind with regards to Sun Jae, besides wanting to save his life.
Rather, she sees her place to be more as a supportive fan, and I do think that’s why she fails to see his romantic intent, in the various things that he says and does.
I felt bad for Sun Jae, when he tells Sol that he wants her to stop being his fan, and she cuts him off before he can tell her his romantic intentions, by promptly friend-zoning him – because she doesn’t want to be cut off from him completely.
Aw. Poor sad puppy. ????
E3-4. Tipsy Sol following him to the swimming pool that night, does give us a good does of Cute.
I love that beat where she’s being all tipsy-punny, and he literally has to look away, to try to hide his big amused smile. Eee!! Cuteee~! ????????
More than the Cute, though, I love the poignance of the moment when Sol tells Sun Jae to keep smiling, while telling him, in her gently, cutely tipsy way, that she will always be by his side, that she won’t let him feel alone, or think dark thoughts when he’s struggling.
Isn’t that such a loving and supportive thing to say?
I can totally see why Sun Jae would lean in and kiss her, in response.
Also, while I typically find drunken kisses problematic because a drunken person doesn’t really have the capacity to consent, I find that I’m more than willing to give Sun Jae a pass on this, because he’s really too young to know better.
Judging by how much weight he gives Sol’s words, it doesn’t seem to even occur to him that Sol’s not sober, and might not actually even remember the things that she’s saying to him.
And, it’s such unfortunate timing, really, that the next morning, the very moment that Sun Jae’s headed over to Sol, to talk to her post-kiss, is when Sol find herself suddenly back in her 2023 body.
E3-4. It’s understandable that Sun Jae would turn away from Sol now, after everything that he’s seen and heard, from Younger Sol, in the last week. (Aw. Poor puppyyy. ????)
But of course, I do love that Sun Jae’s heart never stood a chance at steeling itself against Sol, because the way she jumps in and stands up for him, against that awful Swimmer Rival dude, is just.. unbeatable.
Girl really did just did a flying head butt, to teach that awful excuse for a human being a lesson, for saying such rude, disrespectful and hurtful things to Sun Jae.
Aw. How would he not soften towards this pint-sized tornado of support, yes? ????
And then we get the whole thing where Sol ends up knocked out cold on Sun Jae’s bedroom floor, which is a rollercoaster of an arc, if I may say so.
While I did snigger at the eventual backstory of how Sol came to be asleep on Sun Jae’s floor, that didn’t stop me from eating up the sweet moments that this entire arc affords us.
Sun Jae putting on the fan for Sol, because he worries that she’ll be hot, to him carefully-oh-so-carefully teasing her hair off her face, because he worries that she’d be bothered by the sensation; so sweet and cute!
And then, Sun Jae comparing the size of his hand with Sol’s, and getting all pleased and delighted with the sight, is so dorky and adorable. LUFF! ????
I’m bummed for him, though, when he hears that Sol doesn’t remember anything from that night – meaning she doesn’t remember their kiss either – and gets all crestfallen and upset. Aw. Puppyyyy. ????
I have to confess that my heart skipped a beat, with the way Sun Jae ends up bundling Sol into that blanket, and then just carrying her out of the house like that, on his shoulder.
Ooh. This effortlessly strong cave man type of energy is quite.. alluring, I must say. ????????
I’m sad for Sol, that Sun Jae’s upset words make her cry like that, but I’m relieved that regardless of his vow to stay away from Sol, Sun Jae just can’t help but care about her.
That’s how he even ends up being in a position to save her when she falls off the bridge like that, after all.
I’m really glad, that through this event, Sol recalls the memory that she’d blocked for so long; that it had been Sun Jae who had saved her, all those years ago, during her accident.
I love that poignant realization that we hear in her voiceover, that perhaps it wasn’t that she’d lost her memories, but that she’d lost Sun Jae himself.
What a reveal, that Sol had blocked all of her memories of Sun Jae, all this time, because of the trauma that she’d associated with him.
I’m so, SO glad that she’s now found her memories – and found him – all over again.
AUGH. The feeeels, y’all. ????
E5-6. Show also uses the fragments of information approach, in terms of Sol coming to the realization that Sun Jae had liked her from their first meeting, which she doesn’t remember for quite a while.
I did feel rather antsy about this, because I really, really just wanted Sol to remember meeting Sun Jae, because it’s a moment that means so much to him.
And, I also wanted Sol to know that all this time she’s heard Sun Jae talking about his first love, that he’d been talking about her.
????
She’d always been special to Sun Jae, and I wanted her to know that, for his sake – but also for her own; she deserved to know that she’d always been special to him, and that he was not confused by her actions, like Hyun Joo (Seo Hye Won) had said.
While some viewers might find it hard to believe that Sol would be so slow to realize Sun Jae’s feelings for her, given how clear it is to see, based on his actions, I get the idea here, that to Sol, it’s an impossibility.
To her mind, Sun Jae belongs to a whole other stratosphere, and it defies the law of logic, in her internal world, for Sun Jae to like her; it’s as good as expecting us to believe that pigs could fly – something like that.
E5-6. As a general rule, I just love watching Sol and Sun Jae spending time together and growing closer, even though I have a low-grade niggling feeling about what would happen, once Sol’s time runs out, and she finds herself back in 2023 – and it’s her younger, clueless self facing Sun Jae.
To that end, I worry for Sun Jae, because I don’t want him to be hurt, and I’m pretty sure younger Sol would hurt him, because she’s already done it once before, with the way she rejected him and turned away from him, the moment she came back, once Sol returned to 2023.
That said, I do just really love Sun Jae’s gentle smile, whenever Sol does something endearing, like when she sprays the water from the hose into the sky, so that he’d be able to see the rainbow in the refraction of the light in the water droplets.
Of course, I also melt a little more, every time Sun Jae does something swoony, like when he takes off his tie and puts it around Sol’s neck.
First, there’s the hyper-proximity, which is a little breathtaking, no lie, and then, there’s also the fact that he would get into trouble and punished on her behalf, even though there was really no reason for him to do so.
Altogether very melty, I have to say. ????
And then there’s also the way he looks at her.
When Sol grabs his face in her hands, to prevent him from seeing the Olympic swimming event on TV, his soft gaze and soft smile tell me that he’s melting on the inside, and the sight of him melting, has me melting. ????
Add on the leaked smiles – which Sun Jae regularly smiles, often as an aside, to hide his face, every time something that Sol does makes him happy – and I’m toast. ????
And if that didn’t make me toast, I was definitely double toast, when I saw the way Sun Jae cheered with such pure joy, when he saw that Park Tae Hwan win the gold medal, during the Olympics swimming event.
There’s no trace of envy, or jealousy, or anger, or sadness; he’s just glad for Park Tae Hwan’s win. Isn’t that just the sweetest, most pure heart? Melt. Puddle. Luff. ????
Afterwards, I just love what he tells Sol, that even if he’d known that he’d be unable to swim competitively after age 19, that he would have still chosen to swim, all over again – because it made him happy.
AUGH. His heart is completely in the right place. I LUFF HIM, SO MUCH. ????????
After that, how cute is the bike-riding scene, where Sun Jae runs alongside Sol as she finally rides that bike, with his eyes all full of that soft-gaze happiness, and Sol’s full of tearful, poignant, exuberant joy at the fact that she’s finally learned how to ride, which is a promise she’d made with her dad.
Aw. So precious, honestly. ????
It’s extra precious, when Sol remembers that she might not be able to walk in the future, and asks to ride again, to savor the moment.
(Guh. I really need Show to save both of these precious puppies. ????????)
E5-6. It’s so sweet and thoughtful of Sun Jae, to give the cell phone that he’d won, to Sol, because he knew that she’d lost her phone, but I can also understand Sol’s reaction.
I do think that the idea that Sun Jae had even gotten involved with the band, was because he was hoping to win that cell phone for her, spooks her.
After all, as far as she knows, it had been the stress that had come with the idol life, that had led Sun Jae to take his own life.
The thought that he might have embarked on this life, because of her, must be quite horrifying to her, even though it must also be so poignantly sweet, to be able to see Sun Jae performing – something that she had lost for good, in our original timeline.
Augh. So precious. ????
I totally squeed (and held my breath at the same time, if that’s possible ????) at the end of episode 5, when Sun Jae decides to take Sol’s advice, and think only of himself, for once.
The way he runs to her and asks her if she’d be willing to break up with Kim Tae Sung, if that’s what he wants, while the recording of him saying, “I like you,” plays in her ear, is just so fantastic.
I love how Show has played this moment, because I knew that Sol would eventually hear that recording.
But to hear it, with Sun Jae right in front of her, asking her to break up with Kim Tae Sun, just takes it to a whole other level.
Now she knows exactly why Sun Jae would ask her to do so; it’s because he likes her, and now there’s no way for her to not know, and I’m just breathlessly squeeing over here.
????
Of course, this all gets even better in episode 6, when we realize that Sol really has broken up with Kim Tae Sung – and even before Sun Jae makes that request. YES.
I really got a huge stab of satisfaction, when Sun Jae overhears that Kim Tae Sung had gotten dumped. YESSS.
It’s more delicious, actually, because Sun Jae believes that Sol had broken up with Kim Tae Sung because of his request.
Yes, it’s not true, but I like anything that makes Sun Jae believe that he’s special to Sol, because, y’know, he is.
Yes, the whole makgeolli incident is pretty ridiculous, but I’m not complaining, because that’s what gives us that moment of hyper-proximity, where we get Sun Jae holding Sol to himself, under that blanket.
Eeee!! I mean, this whole thing, threaded through with all that hyper-awareness, is pretty heady, isn’t it? ????????
With the other moments of hyper-awareness that we subsequently get, as they study side by side in the library, it all starts to add up to a really nice layer of tingly tension, I feel like.
And then, aren’t they just super cute, when they go cheer for the Games on the street together? ????????
The way they smile at each other; the way Sun Jae cools down Sol by putting those chilled drinks on her cheeks; the way they grab on to each other, in the excitement of it all.
It all screams puppy love to me, and I really enjoy it. ????????
I can see why Sun Jae might feel galvanized into confessing his feelings for Sol – even though the moment is brought to an abrupt halt, when Kim Tae Sung calls Sun Jae to tell him about Sol’s mom being in hospital.
E5-6. I felt really bad for Sun Jae, when Sol turns down his feelings, but I can understand why that would be her choice.
After all, this isn’t her timeline, and she won’t be able to stay, to take responsibility for her feelings, right?
Still, it’s hard to see Sun Jae having his heart broken, not gonna lie. ???? And, it’s hard to see Sol being brokenhearted too, as she hides behind that pillar and cries, out of Sun Jae’s sight. ????
E7-8. That moment when Sol slows down for a bit, and acknowledges that, in spite of her joy at Sun Jae being alive, she misses him acutely, is so poignant. ????
Because, yes, it is one thing to have the assurance that someone you care about is alive and well, but it is still different from getting to see them face to face, and talk to them, and hear their voice, and have them respond to you.
And I want that for Sol too. ????
I do believe that if the Eclipse concert hadn’t been postponed, and Sol hadn’t become convinced that Sun Jae’s life was still in danger, that she likely wouldn’t have tried to reach out to him.
I feel like there’s guilt there, for having hurt Sun Jae in the past, and that’s why Sol would likely hold herself back from trying to contact Sun Jae, even if she could.
BUT. Because she believes that Sun Jae is in danger all over again, she does everything she can to connect with him, and I’m so glad that, in spite of the multiple obstacles, it actually works. YAY. ????
I honestly held my breath along with Sol, while she stands on that bridge and answers her phone, only to hear Sun Jae’s voice on the other end.
And then, such a great moment, when she turns around, and he’s right there, on the bridge, his eyes locked on her. Ahhh!!!
It feels so poignant, that the first thing Sol does, is hold her umbrella over Sun Jae.
E7-8. I am really coming to appreciate the umbrella motif that we’re getting, in this show.
To my eyes, the umbrella symbolizes a desire to shelter and protect, and it feels so meaningful, that throughout our story, we see Sun Jae and Sol taking turns to hold an umbrella over the other person. ????
And it feels so meaningful in this moment, that that’s the first thing Sol does, because her strongest desire right now, is to protect Sun Jae and keep him safe.
Augh. So good. ????????
I’m also so glad that we get to see, at the beginning of episode 8, that Sun Jae had gone and retrieved the time capsule, in all his dorky glory.
I just love that Sun Jae’s still such an adorable goofy dork, even though he’s now a big superstar.
Deep down, he’s still awkwardly pining for Sol, and missing her, and remembering their promises, and that’s why he’s showing up in his fancy car with a literal shovel, to get that time capsule, before that little patch gets taken down.
And isn’t it so cute and dorky, how Sun Jae remembers to go to the bridge like Sol had made him promise, 15 years ago, even though it’s been so many years since they’d lost contact with each other?
The way he actually practices different ways of greeting her, while getting all cold and frozen on that bridge, is adorkable.
And of course, how about the way he runnnns outta there, the moment he sees her name card in that basket of flowers and realizes that Sol – his Sol! – has been looking for him.
Eee!! So dorky and so intent! I luff. ????
I just love the clearly visible burgeoning emotion in both their gazes, as they finally look upon each other again, after so long.
????
I’m so glad that, instead of making up some excuse, Sol tells Sun Jae honestly, that she’d been waiting for him, because she’d thought that he would come to the bridge.
It’s a bit of comedy of errors, once Sol asks Sun Jae to spend the night in her company, and I was getting a tiny bit antsy, not gonna lie, coz I was feeling so impatient for them to connect properly, without excuses or pretense.
But, I do understand that both of them feel that they need to be careful, because of all the baggage that exists between them.
I did appreciate Sun Jae being a nervous sweet dork, trying to act cool, even though he’s kinda freaked out that Sol is right there in his apartment, and has just told her mother that she’s not going home coz she’s spending the night with a guy. ????
My breath did catch in my throat a little, when Sun Jae’s reservations go out the window, the moment Sol pricks her finger on the cactus, and he grabs her hand, to see if she’s ok.
Aw. I do love a visceral protective instinct, y’know? ????
I also really liked that moment when Sun Jae gets serious, and asks Sol why she’s so determined to spend the night with him, and Sol actually tells him that she’s worried that he was going to die.
I mean, it’s true that Sol can’t tell Sun Jae the whole truth, or he’ll think she’s really crazy, but I like that she’s honest about being worried about him.
AND, I’m glad that when Sol gets up to leave because she doesn’t know what to say, Sun Jae asks her not to leave – right in that split second before she spills the remaining ramyun broth on her sweater and needs to change.
Ahhh, he asked her not to leave!! Somehow that means a lot to me. ????
I did kind of wish that In Hyuk hadn’t come back all drunk and interrupted our OTP-in-waiting, but hey, he does do one good thing, and that is, he spills the beans about Sun Jae pining for Sol, all these years.
I’m glad for it, coz I want these two to be honest about their feelings for each other, at least, even if Sol feels that she can’t tell him about the time travel thing.
It’s honestly heartbreaking how they’d ended up losing touch; how Sol was grateful to him for saving her, but couldn’t bear to see him, because it reminded her too much of the trauma that she’d endured.
Oof. That must have been so heartbreaking for them both. ????????
I’m glad that Sun Jae tells her that he’d gone to the bridge to keep their appointment, and I’m glad that Sol tells him that she’d gone there too, but had missed seeing him.
I’m also glad that she apologizes for hurting him, and I’m even more glad, that she tells him that she’d liked him too – and that she’d missed him.
Ahhhh!!! So significant!!! ????
I appreciate that the reason hastily retreats, is because she’s concerned that someone might spot Sun Jae in her parking lot, and I appreciate even more, that Sun Jae goes after her – all the way up to her apartment door! – to ask her if she still feels the same now.
AHHHH!!!! My pounding heart! ????
And thennnn. The way Sun Jae leans down to kiss her, but stops short, when he senses that she might not be ready, and then the way Sol gets on her tippy-toes to close the distance, because she is ready, after all.
Gurgle. So much gentle longing, and unhurried tenderness, in these kiss. ????
I’m flailing into a puddle, y’all. ????????????
Even more than the kisses, though, I love the small, shy, happy smiles that they both smile, right afterwards.
Awwww! I love that they’re so happy together. ????????
It’s super cute how they both can’t wipe the smiles off their faces for the entire day afterwards, and it’s also cute how Sun Jae calls Sol, wanting to drop his entire schedule so that he can see her.
E9-10. As we go through the various time travel cycles, I can see why Sol would become increasingly desperate to save Sun Jae.
She’s seen how her relief at the end of her various timeslips has been short-lived, and how her efforts to keep Sun Jae safe each time, have been ultimately unsuccessful.
It’s clear that aside from her guilt that she’s very likely the reason Sun Jae had died in the first timeline, she really, truly cares very deeply about Sun Jae.
She even says, this set of episodes, that it should’ve been her instead, which is basically saying that she would literally die, if she knew that that would keep Sun Jae alive.
As additional context, Sol is also convinced that this is her last chance to go back in time, because the time on the clock has working like a countdown, from 3:00, to 2:00, and now, to 1:00.
I don’t know it it’s truly the case that this is her last chance, but it’s a reasonable conclusion for her to arrive at, and given all this other context, I can see why she would be extra desperate to not allow anything to go wrong.
Which is why we see her pushing him away so much, and so hard, this pair of episodes.
Like she says, she would rather lose her connection to him, than lose him completely, and she’s convinced that because Psycho is targeting her, allowing Sun Jae to be around her, would only put him in danger.
Technically, I suppose you could say it’s a form of noble idiocy, but y’know, I totally get where she’s coming from.
I can see why she would think that her best shot at keeping Sun Jae alive, is to keep herself away from him, and I can see why she wouldn’t want to risk adopting any different sort of approach – because what if she allows herself to get closer to Sun Jae, and it ends up killing him?
How could she ever live with that, right? ????
So, while my heart hurt for Sun Jae, to keep feeling like Sol dislikes him so much that she’s actively running away from him ????, I could understand Sol’s state of mind and her decision to distance herself from Sun Jae at all costs. ????
I’m on board with the whole MT thing, because that feels organic to what freshmen might do soon after getting into college, and also – this is a great way to throw Sun Jae and Sol in the same place, despite Sol’s determination to stay away from Sun Jae.
I had a pretty great time with the scene where Sun Jae goes after Sol when he sees her wandering into wild boar territory, and she gets caught in that trap, and Sun Jae has to help get her down, by getting her in a princess carry.
Honestly, I couldn’t help but squee, when Sun Jae catches her firmly in that princess carry – and then looks right at her.
Eee! ????????
After this, I was momentarily tickled by the Spiderman kiss that Hyun Joo plants on an upside-down Geum – that was pretty funny, I thought.
But then, Show pulled all my emotions back into that poignant, bittersweet space, when we have Sun Jae watching over a drunk Im Sol, as she climbs onto that outdoor stage.
It’s heartbreaking how she cries and asks him why he keeps following her after how she’d been mean to him, and tells him to forget about her.
At the same time, I keep hoping that Sun Jae will pick up on the important clues in her slurred cries; that she wants him to think of himself; that she doesn’t want terrible things to happen to him, and that he should ignore her regardless of what’s happening to her.
Even so, you can just see how much it hurts him, to hear Sol tell him to pretend not to know her.
Oof. ????
And then, I thought the song was a clever way to convince Sun Jae that Sol really is from the future, because how else to explain the fact that she knows the song, and by heart, right?
It’s so poignant to me, that this was a song that Sun Jae had written about Sol, and Sol had learned it and loved it as a fan of his, without actually realizing that he’d written it for her, all this time.
????
I think the fact that Sol’s drunk is very helpful to the scene, because how else would Sol have ended up letting on that she was from the future, and that she wanted to change something in the past?
That, combined with the song that she sings – a song that no one but In Hyuk’s heard, at this point, make for a very compelling argument, and I like that this gets Sun Jae thinking enough, that he would seek Sol out the next day, to ask her about it.
Even though Sun Jae doesn’t believe Sol right away, I feel relieved for Sol, that she’s able to at least tell Sun Jae some truth about her situation, finally.
And, importantly, Sun Jae does continue to ponder over Sol’s words, after their conversation is over.
I giggled AND cringed at the part where Sol gets trapped under the table at the cafe and “witnesses” Sun Jae receiving a kiss from that girl, and then again, at Sol’s drunken jealous hollering, coz Sun Jae hears everything, from downstairs.
Despite the secondhand embarrassment, it does feel like a useful thing, for both Sol and Sun Jae, to realize that Sol gets jealous when Sun Jae’s close to another girl.
Like, yes, her words say one thing, but nothing speaks louder than her self-conscious jealous body language – and that drunken hollering, heh.
????
I appreciate that Sun Jae attempts to talk to Sol about it, even though Sol is reticent and doesn’t admit to anything.
And then, when Sun Jae puts aside the whole time travel thing and asks Sol if there was any version of her that ever liked him, even for a second, my heart squeezed for him when Sol insists that she’d never liked him.
Augh, Sun Jae, if only you knew!! ????
The quiet lonely tears on both sides, afterwards, just made me feel so heartbroken, for them. ????
At first, I’d assumed that Show was bringing back Kim Tae Sung, just to balance out the jealous vibes – like, ok, we’ve made Sol jealous, now let’s be sure to make Sun Jae jealous too – but as it turns out, Tae Sung’s more useful than that.
In the end, he’s the one who spells it out for Sun Jae, that Sol likes him more than she’d like to let on, which I’m sure is quite a pivotal moment for Sun Jae.
Honestly, I was pretty sold on the idea of Sun Jae going away to the US for rehabilitation for his shoulder; as Sol reasons, this would take him out of Psycho’s path, and that’s the most important thing, right?
Plus, we get to the airport and everything. (On a tangent, isn’t it super cute how Dad looks so tiny when hugging Sun Jae? I’ve never thought of Kim Won Hae as tiny, but now I do.
????)
Honestly, I thought that Sun Jae would leave, and then Sol would be left working out a way to avoid Psycho, and then when Sol sees that white truck near her family home, I thought we were in for another stressful chase with Psycho hot on her heels – but that isn’t what happens at all.
Instead, it turns out to be a harmless white truck (versus a Psycho-driven truck of doom), and Sun Jae is still there for her in her moment of need. ????
I’m sure that the way Sol breaks down in a terrified blubbering mess, begging him not to come nearer to her, speaks so much louder than everything else she’s said to him, about not liking him, and wanting him to stay away from her.
It’s so clear to see, that her primary concern here, isn’t her own safety, but his, and it’s honestly very moving. ????
Even more moving, though, is the way Sun Jae wraps his arms around her and won’t let go, and tells her that he knows everything, and he’s not going anywhere; he’s there to hold onto her.
Omigosh, I was clutching my heart through the entire final minutes, where we see that Sun Jae had gone to retrieve the time capsule, and had read Sol’s note to him, where she thanks him for being alive.
I’m so glad that Sun Jae pieces the truth together, because it’s time he knows that Sol cares about him, and is doing all these things only because she wants to protect him.
But I feel like my heart’s practically knocked out of my chest, when Sun Jae tells Sol that if he dies because he’s protecting her – he’s ok with that.
Omona. He’s literally saying that it would be worth dying, if he’s able to protect her, and I’m a blubbering mess. ????????
That is so very loving and noble and sacrificial. I didn’t think I could love Sun Jae more, but I do. I so do. ????
And then, a kiss; so tender, so heartfelt and so poignant.
Augh. My heart. *clutch*
E11-12. I was not at all opposed to Sun Jae and Sol being a cute newly-minted couple. ????
After all, this is one of the main things that I’m here for; to root for happiness and all of the good things, for this sweet couple. ????
Sun Jae and Sol try to ignore it and just be happy in the moment, but the fact that Sol is due to leave in the foreseeable future, to return to 2023, lends a distinct bittersweet undercurrent to all the cuteness.
It’s heart-pinching to think that pretty soon, Sun Jae and Sol will be separated, and Sun Jae will have to wait for 15 years, before he’ll get to see this version of Sol again.
Of course, it’s possible that he might be able to win over Sol’s younger self in the meantime, but still, it’s a sad and wistful thought, isn’t it? ????
And it’s so touching, really, that he’s willing to wait that long, to see her again. ????
In the meantime, I can’t begrudge him all the cuteness and squee, like how he looks so pleased with himself as he types in all those hearts next to Sol’s name on his contact list. ????
He’s SHO CUTE. ????????
And it’s very relatable, that he doesn’t want to hide his relationship with Sol, because he doesn’t want to waste a single second of the limited time that they have together.
That scene of them catching falling cherry blossom petals together and pausing to make a wish, was really sweet – especially when Show offers us the detail, in the epilogue, that Sun Jae and Sol had each wished for the other person’s happiness, and asked to be allowed to be together forever.
Awww. That’s so sweet and poignant, isn’t it? ????
E11-12. How lovely is it, that Sol gets to see Sun Jae debuting that song, in her honor?? ???????? That feels very precious, particularly since she had wiped him from her memory, the first time he’d done that, in the original timeline.
This time, however, she’s fully conscious of it, and it feels so special, really, that Sun Jae’s singing that song right to her, and their hearts are both so full, in the moment. ????
And then, how cute is it, when Sun Jae picks Sol up and sets her on a bench, while they’re walking together afterwards, so that she can more fully express, with her outstretched arms, just how cool he’d been, onstage.
Eee! ???????? How are they so cute?
It’s also nice to see them get some couple time by the beach, when they, along with Tae Sung, go visit In Hyuk’s seaside hometown.
And we even get sweet, bashful bedtime cuddles?? And kisses too??
So much sweet, warm tenderness. ??????????????
E11-12. I’m wondering if Sol is resigned to the truthfulness of the visions, and that’s why she gets off that train at the end of episode 12, in order to face her fate, head-on.
I feel that part of it, is that she felt that it was pointless to try to run away from it. The other part of it, I think, is that she feels so determined to protect Sun Jae, that she’d rather send him away and face Psycho on her own, instead of taking a chance and putting Sun Jae at risk.
This is admittedly really giving me noble idiocy vibes, BUT, I can buy the idea that Sol is so desperate to prevent Sun Jae from dying, that she’s not willing to take any risks with it, and that’s why she would rather face the danger alone.
At the same time, we’ve seen that Sun Jae’s determined not to ignore Sol the way she wants, because he just can’t bear to see her put herself in danger, in order to protect him.
And so, my gut says that as much as Sol tries to push Sun Jae away for his own safety, he’s still going to show up for her, because he loves her that much. ????
[END SPOILER]
Song Geon Hee as Tae Sung
I have to say, I hadn’t expected to grow fond of Tae Sung, but grow fond I did.
[SPOILER ALERT]
Mainly, I was pleasantly surprised by what a nice second male lead he turned out to be, particularly given his bad boy image in high school.
And then, I was even more pleasantly surprised, to find him not only being ok about not being the recipient of Sol’s affection, but even going so far as to spell things out for Sun Jae, which basically enables the OTP to actually get minted.
He’s a good dude, and I’m glad that Sol’s time slip intervention eventually helped to turn his life around. ????
[END SPOILER]
Lee Seung Hyub as In Hyuk
I found In Hyuk a likable side character, and liked how he was always there for Sun Jae, pretty much regardless of situation or timeline.
I also liked his general good nature.
[SPOILER ALERT]
I found it quite funny that he was always working hard to be Sun Jae’s wingman, even going so far as to stage fake petals falling over Sun Jae and Sol, but would often end up giving Sun Jae advice that made things worse instead of better.
And while Sun Jae does seem a little exasperated at how In Hyuk’s always showing up at his house and hanging out there as if it’s his own home, I do find it quite endearing that he’s so attached to Sun Jae, even in adulthood. ????
[END SPOILER]
The reluctant bromance [SPOILER]
The reluctant friendship between Sun Jae and Tae Sung is a recurring gag, almost, that Show keeps leaning into, in each timeline.
I liked it because it all feels really wholesome, with Sol’s ex-boyfriend becoming friends with Sol’s new boyfriend.
I mean, they even get drunk together and end up cuddling through the night, tee hee! It’s silly and quite adorable.
And the fact that they look at each other as love rivals through it all (even though Sol’s heart only belonged to Sun Jae), just makes everything that much more endearing.
Seo Hye Won as Hyun Joo
I was in-principle tickled to see that Sol’s bestie is played by none other than Seo Hye Won.
Since Seo Hye Won’s character so famously lamented her lack of chingu in A Business Proposal (review here !), I found it extra amusing to see her now be all happy and besties with Sol. ????????
Also, once we hit the time slip, I loved seeing Seo Hye Won be a high schooler; doesn’t she makes for a very cute high schooler, with her round face and almost bowl-cut hair?
Hyun Joo is mostly played pretty broad and comedic, which I mostly didn’t mind – to a point, which I’ll mention in my next section.
Hyun Joo and Im Geum [SPOILERS]
For a good chunk of this loveline, I was ok with the silliness surrounding Im Geum (Song Ji Ho) and Hyun Joo.
Their loveline was so ridiculously dramatic that I couldn’t help but chuckle at the nonsensical, completely smitten hijinks.
In particular, I couldn’t help laughing out loud, at that scene in episode 11-12, when Hyun Joo grabs Im Geum into a couple-fall, right into the water, just because she spots Sol walking by at school. Hahaha. That was so absurd. ????
The whole misadventure at the house, where Im Geum and Hyun Joo are desperately trying to hide from Sun Jae and Sol, was also quite amusing, for how silly it is.
That said, I have to admit that the exaggerated silly eventually wore on me, and I found myself feeling less indulgent and understanding towards this couple, by the time I hit the finale stretch.
Jung Young Joo as Sol’s Mom
I wanted to give Mom a shout-out, because I thought Mom was pretty awesome, generally speaking, with her boisterous good nature.
All the more so, when we see more of Mom’s backstory, in episodes 5-6.
[SPOILER ALERT]
E5-6. The arc with Mom really landed with a lot of poignance, for me.
It’s hard enough that Mom gets surgery for cancer, in this timeline, but I can’t help thinking of the original timeline, when Mom had gone to get the surgery in secret, so as not to worry her kids, but had gotten such an angry, resentful reaction from Sol, who’d assumed that Mom was going on a romantic vacation with the man who’d turned out to be her doctor and friend.
I feel for Mom even more, when I realize that Mom had had to take care of Sol after her horrific incident, when she herself had likely still been struggling with her own recovery.
Oof. That must have been so very hard on her. ???????? And we’re not even taking into account how Mom had gotten burned in that fire in the original timeline either.
Mom is a hero for remaining so strong and resilient, for the sake of her children. ????
And I’m just relieved that in this timeline, Mom isn’t alone, but is being taken care of by her family, post-surgery.
????
[END SPOILER]
Special shout-out:
Sung Byung Sook as Sol’s grandma
I also just wanted to give a shout-out to Gran, for also being awesome, in her own way.
When she’s in her state of dementia, she’s impish and mischievous, just like a little kid, and then when she’s lucid, she’s warm, sweet and tenderhearted.
I love that she had a quick spotlight, in our finale, which I’ll talk about shortly.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE [SPOILERS]
E13-14. Listen, guys. I must be in the minority here, because I’ve been hearing rumbles of frustration from fans of the show, about these two episodes, and now, here I am, having watched said episode, and pretty much still super pleased with how Show is handling itself.
Remember how I was saying, just last week, that I felt like Show was kind of cycling in place and serving up what felt like filler?
Well, I absolutely don’t feel that way anymore, and I couldn’t be more pleased. ????
If there’s one quibble I have with this pair of episodes, it’s with the very protracted way Sun Jae falls off that cliff.
It’s something kdramas tend to do, to take one moment, and make it suuuuper protracted, so much so that it looks like people are being stupid for not doing something to avert the oncoming crisis.
The first time I encountered this, was in The Moon Embraces the Sun , and I was so aggrieved at how stupid the entire moment landed, that I still remember it vividly now, 12 whole years later. ????
It’s the same thing with how Sun Jae’s shown to fall off the cliff.
The entire moment is so protracted, and not actually specifically shown to be in slo-mo, that you can’t help but question why people are stupidly not saving Sun Jae.
Like, I get that the police officers were busy nabbing Psycho, but any police officer with half a brain cell would also think to pay attention to the victim who’d gotten stabbed while trying to fend off Psycho, yes???
I really do wish that Show had handled this moment differently, like make it clearer that this moment, with Sun Jae’s and Sol’s reactions included, had all happened in the twinkling of an eye, and that there had literally been no time to save Sun Jae, because he’d fallen so fast, after the police officers had grabbed Psycho.
Other than that, though, I don’t have any issues with how Show is handling itself.
I’m even on board with Sun Jae falling off the cliff and dying, thus leading to a whole new reset.
In fact, I was practically giddy with possibilities, the moment I realized that Sol had glimpsed at one last chance, via the watch on Sun Jae’s lifeless wrist.
I just LOVE the fact that this new opportunity for a reset is in line with Show’s established rules for this universe; that Sun Jae’s death somehow seems to unlock the power of the reset.
And, I don’t even mind the fact that Sun Jae therefore loses his memories of Sol, because this opens up the possibility for us to witness something which I find utterly moving; the fact that he would be drawn to her all over again, regardless of the fact that he doesn’t share her memories of their previous past anymore.
Apparently, there are some viewers who feel aggrieved because they are more attached to some version of Sun Jae than others, and I hafta say, I don’t have the same problem.
To me, Sun Jae is Sun Jae, in whatever timeline we might happen to encounter him, and he’s the same person, with the same heart which beats so purely for Sol, whether he is cognizant of it or not.
And, if you’ve watched and loved Someday Or One Day (review here , Open Threads here !) with me, or at least read or heard what I have to say about what my take is, on SOOD’s ending, then my love for this narrative decision by writer-nim, would make a lot of sense.
[MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SOMEDAY OR ONE DAY]
In Someday Or One Day, I completely understood the decision for the final reset, because that had been the only way available, to avert disaster befalling our various characters.
The love that drove that decision has continued to linger with me, long after I’ve finished my various watches of the show, and my hope and belief for these characters, has always been that they would eventually find their way back to each other, even though they lost all their memories of each other, post-reset.
In essence, this show is giving me the portion of the story that I’d always wanted for our SOOD characters.
Sun Jae can’t remember Sol after the reset, but he is finding himself drawn to her anyway, and I cannot tell you how moving it is to me, to be able to witness that. ????
[END MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SOMEDAY OR ONE DAY]
At the same time, this gives us what I find most romantic about the amnesia trope – when the amnestic party falls for the other person all over again, despite not remembering them.
It just reinforces the idea that these two people are meant to love each other, and I really, really like that. ????
Overall, I really feel that writer-nim really knows what she’s doing with our story, and I love so much, that sensation that I’m in good hands.
When we’d first seen Sol jump back to the present, and she’d gone about her life in such a normal manner, when, for all I knew, she’d just lost Sun Jae off the top of a cliff, it had felt kind of weird, to be honest.
But now, on hindsight, it makes perfect sense, because Sol hadn’t just come back from losing Sun Jae off the top of a cliff; she’s been back for a while now, and in the midst of studiously avoiding any and all contact with Sun Jae, in order to keep him safe.
She already knows that he’s safe, in this timeline, and that’s why she’s able to conduct herself in such a normal manner.
Ahhh. I love when we get to realize how deftly writer-nim is juggling the various pieces of this story. ????
But – augh – it’s so poignant when the feels hit, as we see, in flashback, just how she’s been carefully avoiding creating the memories that had defined her relationship with Sun Jae.
It hurts, but in such a poignantly, heartachey, beautiful sort of way. ????
It makes perfect sense to me that Sol would pour all of her feelings and memories into that script, as an emotional and creative outlet; after all, no one is going to question it if she passes it off as fiction, right?
And then it’s so perfect that Sun Jae has such a visceral reaction to it, while reading it.
Because, like I said before, Sun Jae is just Sun Jae, no matter what timeline he’s in, and it makes perfect sense to me, that Sun Jae would respond to all these events on the page in such an instinctive, deeply emotional manner; his memory slate might be blank, but his heart – his soul – knows.
AUGH. I love that, so much. ????
I can totally understand why Sun Jae would have such a strong desire to work on this drama, even though it might not make logical sense; he’s just that drawn to this story, because he can feel himself inside of that story. ????
And of course, I can understand why this might horrify Sol, and cause her to try to prevent this from happening, at all costs.
After all that she’s been through, she’s convinced that it’s extremely unsafe for Sun Jae to be around her; that somehow, he would end up dying because of being associated with her.
What I enjoy about this part of our story, is that we get to see certain aspects of their memories play out, like with certain soundbites being constant, even in a different place or circumstance.
Like how Sun Jae asks Sol why she’s crying, since he hadn’t made her cry; he’d said that back on the bridge as Idol Sun Jae who secretly remembered Sol, and now, he’s saying that again, even though in this timeline, he doesn’t remember Sol or even know her.
And then there’s how he stands in the parking lot and watches her go home; he’d done that in the past as Idol Sun Jae, while Sol had been in a wheelchair, and he’s doing it now, again.
I really like these touches, because together, they reinforce the idea that Sun Jae and Sol are just meant to be together, and that Sun Jae is himself, even when he doesn’t have the same memories. ????
I also really like the idea that Sun Jae starts having these dreams and flashes of déjà vu, after reading the script.
It completely lines up with my preferred idea, that even though Sun Jae’s brain doesn’t have the memories, his heart – his soul ???? – does, and this is his heart’s way of getting through to his brain, in a manner of speaking.
I feel like it’s a similar thing, when Sun Jae catches that glimpse of Sol laughing, instead of being all guarded, as she has been around him.
Him seeing her like that, ignites something in his heart, that also triggers that visceral emotion in him, I feel.
It makes sense to me that Sol would quit her job as a last resort, in order to keep herself out of Sun Jae’s life, and I would believe that she would wander to the amusement park to be alone with her feelings for a while.
After all, this was where she and Sun Jae had had that date, and made all those memories that now only she retains.
I love that, fatefully (because of course), Sun Jae finds himself in the same amusement park, and experiences that flash of memory, that he’d been here before, with Sol.
It feels perfect to me, that he would jump in that ferris wheel cabin with her; this feels so reminiscent of their date on her birthday, before. ????
I love that he’s honest with her and tells her that he’s been having weird emotional reactions and dreams, ever since he read her script.
With Sun Jae being so persistent, I can see why Sol might get upset, and feel resigned enough, to ask Sun Jae if it would be worth putting his life in danger for this.
Ahhh!!! I am so, so stoked to see Sun Jae put the pieces together, even as his memories come together, so that he will remember Sol, and realize that this is their story – and that the ending of this story, is in their hands. ????
I know in my head that Show could still choose a bittersweet ending, but my gut says that Show will take us to a properly sweet ending, and I cannot wait to see these two properly reunited, and happy, and safe. ????
THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]
Part of the reason I needed time to breathe, before writing this review, is that I needed time to process the ending that Show serves up.
Overall, I had several big wants, and I conclude that Show met most of them.
A moderate-sized want, was that the lead-up to the big finale wouldn’t be too angsty to watch, and Show met that want nicely.
A lot of the time, in many 16-episode dramas, episode 15 is where all the angst and drama really ramps up (like Queen of Tears (review here !), for example), so I was a little cautious, coming into episode 15 here.
So it made me very happy indeed, that episode 15 is actually mostly not hard to watch at all. Instead, Show keeps to its light tone, even as Sun Jae puzzles over the various visions of Sol that he’s been having.
And when it hurt, it hurt so good, that I counted it a plus, and not a minus.
Like that scene when Sun Jae admits to Sol that he’s interested in her, and she rejects him.
Augh. The pain and sadness in Sol’s eyes, as she says her last goodbye to Sun Jae, believing that she will never see the love of her life, ever again, just hit me right in the heart. ????
Speaking of Sun Jae’s visions, the first big want of these finale episodes, for me, was that Sun Jae would regain his memories of all his shared history with Sol, and we absolutely get that.
I’d been convinced for a while, that in this drama world, even though our character’s brains might forget, that their souls remember, because of Sun Jae’s recurring visions of Sol.
I do appreciate that Show confirms this for us, via Sol’s gran, who says as much, when Sol comes home to find her lucid, and they have that lovely conversation.
It feels so very precious, that Sol gets to talk with Gran, whom she’s missed talking to, due to Gran’s dementia.
And it’s so very comforting for Sol, to hear Gran tell her that she’s never forgotten Sol; that memories don’t disappear; that everything she’s experienced become a part of her soul, and so even if her brain forgets, her soul remembers it all.
Oh, isn’t that so beautiful? ???? And for Sol, so comforting too, yes?
I also find it quite whimsical, that Gran says that she’s traveling through her memories, and I like this idea, because it’s a comforting thought to return to, when we see Gran in the midst of her dementia.
I do love that Show leans into this idea, and nudges Sun Jae, step by step, towards recovering all his memories.
I love that he wrote the same song, all over again, and that Sol gets to hear it, all over again. I thought that was lovely. ????
And then, I was overwhelmed, when Sun Jae was overwhelmed with the influx of all his lost memories, so much so that he faints, after experiencing chest pains, which I’m assuming are to indicate his heart responding to the memories.
I feel like now’s a good time to go on a tangent, for a bit, to talk about how Show solves the problem of Psycho.
As I’ve said earlier, I like the fact that what Sol and Sun Jae are up against, is a serial killer, instead of the strong arm of Fate, because a serial killer is a solvable problem, and therefore, once we solve it, our OTP is free to have an overtly happy ending.
While it is true that Sol and Sun Jae don’t ever work together to get Pyscho out of the picture, I do think that what we get, is authentic to the idea that Show’s been quietly serving up all along; that small actions can lead to big changes.
I do think that this idea, that small actions can lead to big changes, is the key to appreciating how Show handles the issue of Psycho.
For example, Sol getting Tae Sung’s help to put out the fire, saved Mom from those burns that she’d suffered in the original timeline.
In this drama world, the cause and effect relationship in relation to events, is pretty clear.
Because Sol is alert to put out the fire, Mom doesn’t suffer from burns – and those burns don’t come back in some other event, ie, it’s not that Mom’s fated to have burns or anything.
On a tangent to this tangent, I’m of the opinion that the reason Sun Jae’s shoulder still suffers that career-ending injury, is because there had already been all that wear-and-tear in place, thanks to his training.
And so, whether he actually competed that day in the swim meet, wasn’t the issue. The issue had always been the swimming training itself.
If he continued to put his shoulder through all this stress, the injury would happen at some point as a result, even if not on that day.
In effect, this did act as a bit of a red herring for us as an audience, because we didn’t know the rules of our drama world very well yet at that point, and Sun Jae still getting injured despite winning the competition, does circumstantially suggest that certain things are just fated.
Going back to the idea that Show really is working with, however, that small actions can lead to big changes, we see that Sol actually saves Tae Sung from dropping out of school, by talking to him, and thereby helping him to stay out of the trouble that had led to his dropping out, in the first timeline.
If we look over the entire story, we see that Sol’s actions do lead to lasting changes, and sometimes, those changes are big ones, like Tae Sung growing up to become a police officer, because he hadn’t dropped out of school, because of how Sol had helped him.
Therefore, it could be said that Sol did contribute to Tae Sung eventually pinning down Psycho, even though she didn’t directly nab him herself.
As for Pyscho’s death, I thought it was poetically apt, that it was his own actions that got him mowed down by a vehicle of doom.
This wasn’t suicide, but you could say that this was an ending of his own choosing, because he’s the one who’d chosen to run away, and he’s also the one who’d chosen to hunt down people to kill them.
If he hadn’t tried to run away, he wouldn’t have been mowed down, is what I’m trying to say.
Although, it was a nice poetic echo, to have him fly into the air and land in the water, much like both Sun Jae and Sol had landed in the water because of him, at various points in our story.
In effect, to me, it felt like Psycho was now suffering the fate that he’d once given to Sun Jae and Sol, and that felt very apt.
As for Sun Jae and Sol, even though they never do work together to solve the issue of Pyscho, I do see that they would do everything in their power to protect each other, even if it meant dying (Sun Jae), or cutting themselves out of the other person’s life (Sol).
Over and over again, we’ve seen Sun Jae and Sol each choose to protect the other person, regardless of the cost to themselves, so I find myself fully convinced of the depth of their love for each other.
Which is why I found it guttingly beautiful, to see them finally run towards each other, at the beginning of episode 16; Sol, because she’s worried about Sun Jae reportedly being in hospital, and Sun Jae, because he’s finally recovered all of his soul memories of Sol.
It makes sense to me that Sol’s still trying to hide the truth, because even though she’s heard the report that Psyho’s dead, I don’t think she’s made the connection (or is even sure) that she and Sun Jae are now safe to be together.
I love that they’re both crying as they run to each other, and I love that Sun Jae is immediately thinking from Sol’s perspective, that she must have cried often like this, while missing the guy whom she loved, who’d forgotten all about her.
And then, I felt as overwhelmed as Sol, I think, when Sol tells her, as he holds her in that big bear hug, that he remembers everything.
Ahhhh!! ???????? Yessss, finalllyyyy. ????
I cried right along with Sol, as she sobs in Sun Jae’s arms with wonder and relief.
Augh. What a release this must be, after having held in her feelings for him, for so long?? ????????????
And how beautiful, that Sun Jae even apologizes for being late, and for forgetting her, even though it had been completely out of his control.
Aw. ????
Then we have a tearful, magical kiss, that feels perfectly perfect, after everything that these two have been through. *wipes tear*
I will say, though, that this was when the finale peaked for me – and then everything afterwards had felt a little underwhelming, to be brutally honest.
In principle, I like the idea of having an extended moment to soak in the happy-ever-after of our characters; I wouldn’t have preferred to have ended the drama right then and there, although that would have worked too.
It’s just that I find it very, VERYYY hard to buy the idea that, after everything that they’ve been through, and after such a momentous, hard-won reunion that had seemed like such an impossibility such a short while ago, that Sol would even question Sun Jae wanting to hold her indefinitely.
Like, seriously, this soon after reuniting with the love of your life, whom you’d thought you’d said goodbye to, forever?? That didn’t feel authentic or believable to me.
Ok, that’s a small thing, but it’s also indicative of the rest of the episode to come, which is why I’m picking on it specifically.
I’m also feeling a bit underwhelmed at where the skinship needle is pointing on the overall scale skinship scale in this finale, because I would expect that, with such strong feelings that they ought to be feeling, after an almost impossible reunion, that their connection would be that much stronger, and that they’d be spending a lot more time together, and that their touches and kisses would be that much more full of deep emotion.
Instead, we have Sol pushing Sun Jae away coz she’s working on the script, and then awkwardly pretending to drop things on her way out of Sun Jae’s apartment, so that she can stay with him a little longer.
I know this is meant for Cute, and I might be in the minority on this, but I felt like our OTP would be beyond this type of games and hedging – again, because of everything they’ve just been through, to be together again.
I have to say, though, that scene between Sun Jae and Gran was a big highlight of this finale stretch.
I love how Gran reaches for his hand, and then, rubbing his chest in that grandmotherly way, tells him to live a good, long life now, while laughing (ie, to live happily).
Narratively, it’s fitting that Sun Jae tears up in response, because it’s true that he’s been through so much, to get to this safe and happy place.
And then, how beautiful is it, to know that Byeon Woo Seok just couldn’t help crying in this scene, because it had reminded him so much of his own late grandmother? ????
I have to say, though, that I find it hard to believe that Sol would go off and spend months making a movie, without Sun Jae in tow, after everything that they’d been through.
(Also, I find myself puzzled as to why Sol’s making the movie on her own, instead of with Sun Jae, as had been originally planned. I don’t think we’re told what happen
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